by a very long way indeed.

JULY 4. -- Having an accumulation of letters to answer, we devoted the
day to writing -- merely enjoying a little OTIUM CUM DIG. -- in the
evening, reclining in our boat while serenaded by the crew of boatmen.

JULY 5. -- Walked up, before daybreak, to the Tukht e Suleeman,
or Solomon's throne, "the mountainous Portal," which Moore speaks
of in LALLA ROOKH, and which forms the most striking landmark in
the valley.[8]

From the summit there was a curious view of the multitudinous wooden
houses and the sinuous windings of the river, which could alone be
obtained from such a bird's-eye point of inspection. An old temple
at the top was in the hands of the Hindoo faction, being dedicated
to the goddess Mahadewee, and in charge of it I found two of the
dirtiest fukeers, or religious mendicants, I ever had the pleasure
of meeting. One was lying asleep, with his feet in a heap of dust and
ashes, and the other was listlessly sitting, without moving a muscle,
warming himself in the morning sun. Both were almost naked, and had
their bodies and faces smeared with ashes and their hair long and
matted. They appeared to have arrived at a state of almost entire
abstraction, and neither of them even raised his eyes or seemed to
be in the slightest degree aware of my presence, although I took a
sketch of one of them, and stared at both, very much as I would have
done at some new arrival of animals in the Zoological Gardens.

In the evening we went again to Saifula Baba's and visited the
workrooms, where we were much astonished by the quickness with which
the people worked the intricate shawl patterns with a simple needle,